- National:
- On July 4, 2023, the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, chaired the 23rd Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Council of Heads of State (SCO-CHS) Summit which was held in a virtual format.
- India and Singapore have extended their current pact on cooperation in the field of personnel management and public administration for another five years till 2028 by signing a ‘Protocol Document’.
- Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) has launched the third edition of the National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA) portal at www.nesda.gov.in.
- According to a new report released by UNICEF and WHO, globally, women are most likely to be responsible for fetching water for households, while girls are nearly twice as likely as boys to bear the responsibility, and spend more time doing it each day.
- The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) has constituted a five-member working group for implementing the recommendations of the Reserve Bank of India’s committee on the “working of the Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs)”.
- Meta has launched a new app called Threads which is intended to offer a space for real-time conversations online, a function that has long been Twitter’s core selling point. The app received 30 million sign-ups as of Thursday morning, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
- The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has honored Indian astronomer Aswin Sekhar by naming a minor planet after him. The honor was conferred on him at the 2023 edition of Asteroids Comets Meteors Conference which took place in Arizona on June 21, 2023.
- Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has offloaded a little over 2% stake in India Cement through open market transactions between November 2007 and July 2023.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of several infrastructure projects worth over six thousand and hundred crore rupees at Hanamkonda in Telangana.
- The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three railway officials in connection with the triple-train crash of June 2 in Balasore that claimed 293 lives.
- The Kalaignar Magalir Urimai Thogai scheme is a major Assembly poll promise of the ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu. It has been touted as the first-of-its-kind program in the country, named after former Chief Minister Karunanidhi.
- PM Gati Shakti is a National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity launched by the Prime Minister of India. It is essentially a digital platform to bring 16 Ministries including Railways and Roadways together for integrated planning.
- The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has launched the One District One Product (ODOP) Awards on June 15th on the Rashtriya Puraskar portal.
- Economy:
- Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah presented a budget for the 2023-24 financial year, which he described as a ‘guarantee budget Backed by 21% growth in GST, Mr. Siddaramaiah in his 14th Budget allocated ₹35,410 crore for implementing what he called the “guarantee budget”.
- The markets regulator SEBI has notified rules for introducing the concept of general information and key information document to avoid multiple filings of documents by issuers of debt securities. The move will promote ease of doing business for issuers.
- According to the Goods & Service Tax Department, it is mandatory to provide geolocation details of business premises while doing new GST registration or when adding a new place of business in the GST portal.
- World:
- The United States is sending cluster munitions to Ukraine as part of a new military aid package worth $800m. The weapons are intended to help Ukraine push back Russian forces entrenched along the front lines
- The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) said that there was “no evidence” it was dominated by Beijing’s ruling Communist Party after conducting an internal review into explosive claims made by a former executive
- Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) has announced the launch of a new program with an investment of 11 million US dollars towards initiatives in three different verticals - delivery technology, Health and technology solutions for schools and campus security
- Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s coalition government has collapsed over irreconcilable disagreements on migration issues. The four parties were split in crisis talks chaired by Mr Rutte on Friday.
- Sports:
- reigning champion Novak Djokovic defeated old rival Stan Wawrinka to reach the last 16 and move closer to an eighth men’s singles Wimbledon title. Djokovic won 6-3 6-1 7-6 (7-5) in a match that finished 14 minutes before the 23:00 BST cut-off on Friday night.
- Indian badminton players PV Sindhu and Lakshya Sen have sailed into the semi-finals of women’s and men’s singles events, respectively, at the Canada Open 2023 BWF Super 500 event in Calgary.
- Important Days:
- July 7th, 2023 marks the 2nd commemoration of the World Kiswahili Language Day. The theme for 2023 is “Unleashing Kiswahili’s potential in the digital era” which highlights the important role played by Kiswahili in the digital landscape.
- Obituary:
- Artist K M Vasudevan Namboothiri, popularly known as ‘Artist Namboothiri’, passed away at the age of 97. He was a renowned artist known for his literary illustrations and sculptures.
- Appointments:
- The Centre has appointed Justice Sheo Kumar Singh, a judicial member of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), as its acting chairperson following the retirement of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel.
Questions:
Q.1 What is the theme for World Kiswahili Language Day in 2023?a. Unleashing Kiswahili’s potential in the digital era
b. Promoting Kiswahili as a global language
c. The history and culture of Kiswahili
d. The role of Kiswahili in promoting peace and unity
Q.2 Who has been appointed as the acting chairperson of the National Green Tribunal (NGT)?
a. Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel
b. Justice Sheo Kumar Singh
c. Justice Ram Janam Bhumi
d. Justice A.K.
